Therapeutic Gardens for Wellbeing, Participation & Social Reintegration
A network of therapeutic gardens developed across multiple facilities of the EDRA Social Cooperative Activities for Vulnerable Groups, transforming underutilized urban spaces into living environments of care, participation, and ecological interaction. The project combines urban agriculture, regenerative landscaping, and occupational engagement to support psychosocial rehabilitation and community connection.
Each intervention was designed according to the spatial and social conditions of the hosting structure. Existing courtyards, paved surfaces, and transitional outdoor areas were reimagined through raised beds, modular planters, edible landscapes, aromatic species, and pollinator-friendly planting systems, creating calm and accessible environments for collective gardening activity and everyday interaction.
The gardens operate simultaneously as therapeutic, educational, and community-oriented spaces. Participants engage in planting, cultivation, harvesting, composting, and seasonal maintenance, strengthening routines of care, collaboration, sensory interaction, and connection with natural cycles. The process supports emotional grounding, active participation, and social reintegration through hands-on ecological practices.
The installations were developed using regenerative and circular design principles, prioritizing organic growing media, recycled construction materials, biological cultivation methods, and biodiversity enhancement. Seasonal vegetables, edible flowers, medicinal herbs, and perennial aromatic plants create evolving micro-ecosystems within dense urban contexts.
Alongside the physical interventions, the project framework includes workshops, agronomic support, and long-term maintenance activities developed in collaboration with the scientific and therapeutic staff of each structure. The gardens therefore function not only as green infrastructures, but as active landscapes of wellbeing, collective stewardship, and everyday therapeutic interaction.
